nini

1. Position in the Sentence
In Swahili, question words generally stay in-situ (where the answer would go). When asking about an object, nini stays after the verb. If nini is the subject of the sentence (like "What happened?"), it can go at the beginning (e.g., Nini kimetokea?). However, Swahili frequently uses Verb-Subject inversion for subject questions to keep the question word in the focused final position (e.g., Kimetokea nini?).

2. Agreement and Form
Nini does not take any noun class agreement prefixes itself. However, when nini is the subject of a sentence, the verb takes the default Class 7 subject prefix ki- (e.g., Nini kimetokea?). In highly informal or regional East African Swahili (especially in Kenya), you will frequently hear the Class 9 prefix i- used as the default instead (e.g., Nini imetokea?).

3. Object Markers
When using nini as the direct object, the verb usually drops the object marker because the specific object is unknown (e.g., Unasoma nini?). However, the object marker can be retained when nini is used to mean "why" or "for what purpose" regarding a known object or person (e.g., Unaniangalia nini? - "What are you looking at me for?").

4. Kwa nini (Why?)
When you combine the word kwa (for) with nini, you get kwa nini, which means "why?" (literally "for what?"). Unlike nini alone, kwa nini usually goes at the beginning of the sentence.

5. Asking "With what?"
To ask what instrument was used to do something, English speakers often want to say "with what". In Swahili, you cannot use na (which means "and" or "with" for accompaniment) for instruments. Because kwa nini means "why", Swahili typically uses the verb kutumia (to use) to ask "with what" (e.g., Umetumia nini kuikata? - "What did you use to cut it?").

6. Ni nini (What is it?)
A very common beginner pattern uses nini with the present copula ni to ask "what is it?" (e.g., Hii ni nini? - "What is this?").

7. Spoken Contraction
In highly informal spoken Swahili or slang, nini is sometimes shortened to the suffix -ni and attached directly to the end of a verb (e.g., Unafanyani? instead of Unafanya nini?). Note that in Standard Swahili, attaching -ni to a verb forms a plural command, but for Bantu verbs ending in -a, the final -a must change to -e before adding -ni (e.g., soma becomes someni). Informal questions with -ni are distinct from commands because they retain subject and tense prefixes, which commands lack.

8. What it is NOT
Do not use nini to ask "what kind of" or "which" noun (use gani instead). Also, be careful not to confuse it with nani (who). Nini is strictly for things, actions, and ideas, while nani is for people. A very common beginner pitfall is asking "What is your name?". In Swahili, you must ask "Who is your name?" (Jina lako nani?) because names belong to people. Another critical pitfall is asking "What time is it?". English speakers instinctively want to use nini, but Swahili requires ngapi (how many) to form Saa ngapi? (literally "How many hours?"), and nini should never be used for this. Finally, to say 'what' inside a statement such as "I know what you did", Swahili usually uses relative clauses (such as the relative -cho- or ambacho).